Cutting blade for shears and the like



Jan. 1, 1929. 1,697,304

G. BROWNING CUTTING BLADE FOR SHEARS AND THE LIKE Original Filed July l0, 1926 25 zgz z oz ge ys Patented-Ian. 1, 1929.

UlT-E ream r OFFICE.

GEORGE BROWNING, OF WILMETTE ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CHICAGO FLEXIBLE S HAF T COMPANY, OF CHICAGQILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS. i i

CUTTING BLADE FOR SHEARS AND THE LIKE.

Application filed July 10, 1926, Serial No. 121,709. Renewed-Tiny 22, 1927.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved form and construction of a vibratory cutting blade of a sheep shear and the like for adapting such blade to be reversible for utilizing shear edges of the teeth at both surfaces of the blade and also in the preferred form, reversible end-wise that is, without reversing the surfaces for utilizing shear teeth formed at both longi- W tudinal edges. It consists in the elements and features of the construction as indicated and described in'the claims.

In the drawings I Figure 1 is a plan view of the forward partof a sheep shear equipped with areciprocating cutter blade embodying this invention in one of its forms.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing a blade embodying this invention in another of its forms applied to a different style of sheep shear.

Figure 3 is a similar view showing a blade of the form shown in Figure 2 applied to a sheep shear of the style shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4c is a similar view showing the blade of the form shown in Figure 1 applied to a shear of the style shown in Figure 1 with an adapter for use when the blade has been ground past the limit of thickness which can be prudently used without such adapter.

Figure 5 is a similar view showing the blade of the form shown in Figure 1 applied to a shear of the style shown in FigureQ- by means of the adapter shown in Figure 4, such adapter being necessary regardless of the thickness of the blade for utilizing a blade of the form there shown.

Figure 6 is a section at the line Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a section at the line 7-7 on Figure 2.

Figure 8 is a section at the line 8-8 on Figure 4.

Figure 9 is a section at the line 99 0 Figure 5. I

Figure 10 is a plan view of the blade of the form shown in Figures 2'and 8.

Figure 11 is a plan view of the blade of the form shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5.

Figure 12 is'a plan view of the adapter.

Figure 13 is a sect-ion at the line 13- 13 on Figure 10.

Figure 14 is a section at the line 1414 on Figure 11.

In all the forms shown in all the figures,

H to

A represents the fixed cutter or combf of a sheep shear of which B is the lever for-actuating the vibrat-ory cutter blade. In some forms of sheep shear, the engagements for actuating the reciprocating blade are =1nade within the area of the teeth, while in other forms the engagement is provided inthe body of the blade back of the teeth; and the present invention being designed for the purpose of furnishing vibratory cutter blades for shears of both types which are already in use, the cutters are shown with drive apertures adapting them for use with both sorts of sheep shears. j The characteristic of the invention is the form of the reciprocating cutter. consistingin that while it is of substantial thickness and presents a thick edge and istherebyadapted for repeated grindings which willreduceits thickness before the limit ofits serviceability is reached, being in this respect distinguished from what may be-called a scalei-cblade such as the blade of common forms of safetyrazor. The edge is without any bevel, the blade being made by cutting and shaving with a die from a metal plate or sheettand havingthe plane of the edge thus produced by the die-.. cutting action at right angles to the planes of the two opposite surfaces. The blade is by this means rendered reversible, either side affording a shearing corner at each shearing edge of the teeth. a The advantage of this feature in addition to that afforded by doubling the period of use between grindings,becau'se both sides; may be used before interruptingithe service of the blade for grindingis,first, that the.

right-angle shear corner. does not'dull so raps idly as an acute angle corner; and second, and more importantly,-that the teeth are v not shortened by grinding to restore the shearing corner, as is the case with the customary blade having bevelled edges, because. these bevels, intersecting at the point-o-fthe teeth create a rearward incline or bevel from the point, so that when the face is ground to: restore the corner, the point recedes, that is,- the tooth is shortened. The great importance of this second feature maybe under-1 stood upon hearing in mind that the recipro-. cation of the vibrating cutter on thecomb tends to wear a path and produce a slight shoulder on the comb face at-the path of the. terminating point of the tooth of the vibrate ing cutter blade; and when a shear has been used for 'aitimeiwith a vibrating cutter of the customary bevelled edge type whose, teeth have become shortened by grinding, this .oshoulderon .the comb vprevents .the teeth of the new cutter, which-are full "length, from obtaining shearing contact with the comb teeth, except at the short .portions'of the vibrating cutter teeth which lap past the shoulder; and back ofithe-shortportionthere is'a space between the surfaces of the two teeth which 'ought to cooperate for shearing,but which-cannot cooperate under these circumstances. Theresu-ltisthat insuch cases it is absolutely :necessary to re-grind the comb face'whenever-a new vibrating cutter is substituted forone which has previously been ground and shortened andhas thereby worn a shoulderon the comb face.

A second valuable feature ofthe invention in its complete eform embodying'both its dis-- tingui-s'hing features, is fthatthe cutter blade is not only adapted 'tobe reversed side for side, thatis,so as to'bring-into shearing action the cutting corners at both surfaces, which is-possibleby reason of the symmetrical relation of-the teeth about a lore and aft middle line, but is adapted also to be reversed longitudinal edge for longitudinal edge, because bot-h longitudinal edges are provided -with teeth for cooperation shearwisewiththe comb teeth and the blade is symmetrical about a longitudinal line midway between the two toothed edges.

In the forms of the blade shown in Figures 2 and 7, thevibrating cutter blade, 10, embodies only the first mentioned feature of the invention, consisting in the right angle relation of the shearing edges of its teeth, 10*;tothe twoopposite surfaces of the blade, asmay-be-seen in Figure7. In view of the variationin difi'erent'forms of sheep shears in respect to the position of the drive apertures "of the vibrating cutter 'blad'e,the apertures at which the :bladeis engaged for its reciprocationby-the lever B,the blade,

10, is provided'wit three pairs of apertures, one =pa-ir,'=10 ,r10 being located within the area of the teeth as required for-the style of sheep'shearshown in Figure 1, as may be understood from the section in Figure 6, and another pair, 10, 10, being located backof the teeth as requiredby 'theother style of shear seen in Figure 2, as maybe understood from Figure -.7. #Intthe tfirst stylethe pins, 11, which project from/thepressure and actuatingifinger, 12, of the vibrating lever, B, are usually of greater length than .the minimum thickness of the cutter blade, that is, theithickness 'to which it maybe reduced by grindin' ibeforebeing rendered too thin for services ility; and when the blade has been thusirepeatedly ground so that its thickness isiretlucedztoiless rthan t-helength of the pin, the rend er the pin would strike the comb, and prevent :the'shoulde'r reaching the blade for pressing and holding it on the comb as necessary for shearing; and to meet this ditficulty when the blade has been ground down to the condition of thinness indicated, there is provided an adapter plate, C, which has projections, 15, struck down for engaging a third pair of apertures, 10, 10, which are provided in the cutter blade for registering wit-h these projections, 15, when the adapter is positioned on the cutter blade with its fingers, d, which correspond with the teeth of the cutter blade, properly lodged above said teeth, said projections,15, being less than the least thickness to which it is judged advisable to grind any cutter blade before discarding it on account of thinness; and the adapter has apertures, 17, 17 positioned for registering with the aperture, 10, of the blade for engagement by the pins, 11, of the actuating lever when the adapter is put in service.

In Figure 2 and the section thereof, Figure 7, the same form of blade, that is, having only one of the characteristic features of this invention, is shown applied to a. sheep shear of a slightly different style from'thatshown in Figure 1, the difference consisting in the point atwhich the vibrating lever is provided with the pins for engaging thebladeto reciprocate it, these pins, 11, in this style of shear being positioned back from the end of the fingers for engagingthe body of the blade back of the teeth, the pressure being afl'orded at the end of the linger in the same relation to the teeth as in the other form where the engagement and pressure were atforded at the same point. When the blade is employed in connection with this style of shear the pins, 11*, engage the apertures, 10, in the blade as above mentioned. Such engagement may be seen in Figure 7. In this form of blade with the style of shear shown in Figure 2, the adapter above described is desirable when the blade has been ground to a thinness less than the protrusion of the pin, 11*, belowthe plane of the pressure terminal of the finger, 12, since otherwise the pin would encounter the comb before the terminal of the finger would reach the blade for pressure thereon. The adapter, 0, therefore, has, beside the apertures, 17, which are engaged by the pressure end driving pins, 11, of the first style of shear, additional apertures, 18, 18, positioned for engagement with the'pins, 11*, of the second style of shear, the adapter being of thickness slightly more than the protrusion of thepins, 11*, as may be understood from Figure 9. The adapter engages the blade in this form as in the previously de scribed form, viz, by means of the proj ection, 15, engaging the aperture, 10 of the blade.

Figures 1 and 5 show the form. of the blade embodying both the substantial features of this invention, the blade in the form shown in these figures having cutting teeth at both longitudinal edges, these teeth being desigi also, and particularly when this blade is used with the style of shear shown in Figures 2 and 7, having the blade engaginy pins, 11*, located back from the pressure terminal of the fingers, because in view ofthe dimensions of the comb in this style of shear the blade having teeth at both edges cannot be made wide enough between the rows of teeth to have the apertures necessary for engaging these rearwardly positioned pins, 11*. The adapter of the same form shown in the other figures engages the blade of this double-edged form at apertures, 10 positioned with respect to the ends of the teeth and the apertures, 10 are cisely as the similarly designated apertures in the other form of blade, by means of the same projections, 15, struck from the adapter as in the otherform, and the adapter is engaged by the pins, 11*, of the operating lever fingers at the apertures, 18, as in the other form. This enables the blade toothed at both edges to be reversed for utilizing either set of teeth as well as be reversed, face for face, for llt-lllZ-. ing the shearing corners of both faces.

In view of the unavoidable slight variations in the spread of the blade-engaging pins in the sheep shear for which these blades are designed, it is desirable,and necessary in order to insure being able in all cases to apply the blades to the shear without special refittingto make one of the holes of each pair, 10*, 10, 10, in the blades slightly elongated in the direction of the reciprocation of the blade, as may be seen in the drawings, particularly Figures 10 and 11: and the same accommodation is required in the adapter in re spect to the holes, 17 and 18, as seen in Figure 12. This elongation is so slight as to be in fact scarcely observable, and it is exaggerated in the'figures mentioned and not attempted to be shown in the other figures; but it should be understood that it is present in all forms and modifications in all the figures.

In view of the fact that the work of cutting is actually performed by a very short portion of the extremities of the teeth of'the reciprocating blade, it is desirable, especially when the blades have been reduced in thickness by repeated grindings, so that they may be easily sprung up at the point, to construct the adapter which may be applied to the thinned blades, for applying the pressure to the blade by the extreme points of the adapter teeth; and for that purpose the adapter is made of spring metal and with its terminal fingers which press upon the blade teeth slightly flexed downward toward the points rendering them slightly hollowed at the underside forward of the pins by which the adapter engages the blade, as may be seen in Figures 8 and 9, so that the pressure is trans-- mitted to the extremity of the cutter teeth.

I claim 1 1. A vibrating cutter blade for asheep shear and the like consisting of metal plate of substantial and uniform thickness, shaped as to the distribution of its cutter teeth symmetrically about a longitudinal middle line, and having features for driving engagement by an actuating member which are symmetrically disposed about such longitudinal middle line; whereby it is adapted to be reversed edge for edge and end for end to bring the teeth at the one edge. or the other into operation for shearing.

2. A vibrating cutter blade for a sheep shear and the like consisting of a metal plate of substantial thickness to adapt it for repeated grindings, shaped and dimensioned identically at its opposite surfaces, and having its cutting edges at right angles to both said surfaces; whereby both corners of said edges are equally adapted for shear cutting action, said plate being shaped symmetrically about a longitudinal middle line and having apertures for its driving engagement by a reciprocating member disposed symmetrically about said middle longitudinal line and extending directly through the plate and thereby identically and symmetrically situated at both surfaces of the plate; whereby the blade has four shearing areas andis reversible both end-wise and side-wise for bringing any one of said areas into cooperation with a fixed cutter.

3. In combination with a cutter blade as defined in claim 1, an adapter plate conformed approximately to the outline of the cutter as to its shear teeth, and having projections from one face positioned for engaging the drive apertures of the cutter, and having means for its own direct engagement with the cutter reciprocating means.

i. A vibratory cutter blade as defined in claim 2 having drive apertures in the cutter teeth, and having additional drive apertures at the longitudinal middle line of the blade, and an adapter having means for engaging said additional drive apertures of the cutter positioned symmetrically about a middle fore-and-aft-line and at a longitudinal line back of the cutter-engaging projections.

5. A vibrating cutter blade for a sheep shear and the like shaped symmetrically about a longitudinal middle line, whereby it has similar shearing teeth at both longitudinal edges, said blade having means for driving engagement therewith of a vibrating member, situated in the area of the blade symmetrically with respect to the middle foresand-aft-line; whereby the blade may be I set of teeth into service.

6. A vibrating cutter blade for a sheep "shear and the like, having spaced apart longitudinally of the blade, apertures for driving engagement by an actuating part, one of said apertures being slightly elongated in the di rection of reciprocation.

7 In a device of the character indicated, in combination with the cutter blade, an adapter blade of spring metal and having the terminalscorresponding to the shear teeth of the cutter blade, hollowed on the underside for applying the pressure of the adapt-ed 'to'the teeth of the blade substantially at the extremity of said terminals.

8. A vibrating cutter blade for. a sheep shear and the like having spaced apart longitudinally of the blade means for guidance of the blade inits cut-ting strokes, one of said means being adapted alsoto afl'ord operating engagement with an actuator, the otherbeing adapted f0! guidance only without actuating engagement.

In testimony whereof. I have hereunto set my hand at Chicago, Illinois,this 7th day of July, 1926.

GEORGE BROWNING. 

